Working America conducting GOTV canvass

This is to inform you that Working America will be conducting a get-out-the-vote (GOTV) canvass relating to the upcoming elections among its members and the general public in Moraine beginning 8/26/2016 and continuing until the November 8 elections. We are writing to let you know about our upcoming presence so that you can alert all officers to our activities, have the information you need to respond to any calls from residents, and t o avoid any problems or interference with our work.

By way of background, Working America is the chartered community affiliate of the AFL-CIO. It is a not-for-profit 501(c)(5) labor organization composed of more than three million members across the United States who are associate members of the AFL-CIO. Working America engages in education as well as legislative and political advocacy in support of good jobs, retirement security, living wages and affordable healthcare.

Working America is mindful of the fact that the cities and towns where we canvass may receive telephone calls from residents inquiring about Working America and its work. For this reason, we are providing this background information on our organization and our upcoming activities. We are also willing to provide, upon request, a list of the authorized Working America staff members that we foresee will be canvassing in your area. Working America’s canvassers are professionally trained and carry prominently displayed picture-identification cards.

With the November elections fast approaching, Working America, like other labor organizations and many other groups, is focused on talking to its members and the general public about the candidates and their views on issues of importance to working families. Working America will soon be going door-to-door in your community talking to its members and the general public about Working America’s endorsed candidates. Our standard operating procedure is to canvass between the hours of 4:00 p.m. and 9:00 p.m. on week days and 10:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. on weekends since that is the time in which people are most likely to be reached in their homes.

Because Working America is engaged in constitutionally-protected political speech, restrictions on these activities, such as permitting requirements and curfews, cannot constitutionally be applied to our work. The U.S. Supreme Court, together with lower courts following its precedent, has protected issue and electoral-oriented canvassing activity such as Working America’s from unreasonably restrictive government regulation such as, for example, pre-registration, permitting requirements, and unreasonable curfews. Watchtower Bible & Tract Society of New York v. Village of Stratton, 536 U.S. 150 (2002) (permitting requirement for religious canvassers unconstitutional); SEIU Local 3 v. Municipality of Mt. Lebanon, 446 F.3d 419 (3rd Cir. 2006) (same, as applied to union canvassers doing GOTV). Various courts have struck down restrictive curfews as unconstitutional. See, for example, Ohio Citizen Action v. City of Englewood, slip opinion 10-3265/3293 (6th Cir. 2012) (establishing that the City of Englewood failed to demonstrate that a 6 pm curfew on door-to-door canvassing is narrowly tailored to its interest in preventing crime and protecting residential privacy); City of Watseka v. Illinois Public Action Council, 796 F.2d 1547 (7th Cir. 1986) (establishing that the City of Watseka had failed to justify its 5:00 p.m. to 9:00 a.m. ban on canvassing as being narrowly tailored to legitimate objectives and that the canvassing organization could recover damages based on the revenue it lost by being unable to solicit within the city); New Jersey Citizen Action v. Edison Township, 797 F.2d 1250 (3rd Cir. 1986) (faced with a 6:00 pm curfew, the Court determined that an ordinance prohibiting noncommercial door-to-door canvassing and solicitation during evening hours, generally after 5:00 p.m. or 6:00 p.m. or sunset, violated groups’ free speech rights); and Wisconsin Action Coalition v. City of Kenosha, 767 F.2d 1248 (7th Cir. 1985) (anti-solicitation ordinance, as applied to bar on door-to-door canvassing for charitable or political causes in residential areas between hours of 8:00 p.m. and 9:00 p.m., violated First Amendment).

If you have any questions about Working America or our upcoming GOTV canvass among our members and the general public in your community, please contact me at the number listed below. You may also contact Working America’s legal counsel, Liz Towne, at 202-637-5124.